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A US court sentenced Russian Vladimir Dunaev to five years and four months in prison for the creation and implementation of Trickbot malware, which was used to attack government organizations, companies and individuals around the world. The US Department of Justice estimated the damage from his actions at $3.4 million.
According to investigators, Dunaev was part of the Trickbot Group cybercriminal group and “provided specialized services and technical capabilities for the implementation of the Trickbot scheme.” According to the Ministry of Justice, Dunaev was responsible for developing browser modifications and malicious tools with which attackers collected data from victims from infected devices. These include login credentials, credit card numbers, passwords, social security numbers, addresses, and so on.
“During Dunaev’s participation in the scheme, more than $3.4 million was stolen from ten victims in the Northern District of Ohio, including Avon School and a North Canton real estate company, using ransomware deployed by Trickbot,” the department said in a statement.
Dunaev was detained after his trip to South Korea in 2020. He could not leave the country for more than a year due to Covid restrictions. As a result, his passport expired, and he issued a new document through the embassy, but did not have time to use it: On May 25, 2021, the Korean Ministry of Justice received an emergency extradition request from the US Department of Justice. Dunaev was extradited at the end of October 2021.
Following his arrest, he pleaded guilty to charges related to conspiracy to commit fraud and identity theft, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Dunaev faced a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison.
Russian National Sentenced for Involvement in Development and Deployment of Trickbot Malware
A Russian national was sentenced yesterday to five years and four months in prison for his involvement in developing and deploying the malicious software known as Trickbot, which was used to launch cyberattacks against American hospitals and other businesses.